Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-01-29
COMSTOCK MEMORIES.
Some Funny Claim Fights in Times
Past.
BIZ Dan De Quite IN Salt Lake Tribune.

Bq Dan De Quite IN Salt LGke Trs5u5as.
At various times since the discovery OF
silver in Nevada there have been very Sc
rious claim fights along the Comstoek ana
in numerous other localities, men being
sent. first and last, to their final account
TO "get their time" at the great head office
on the "golden shore However, all the
troubles were not attended with fatal re-
suits.
n LDTIME CLAIM OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
In the early days there occurred an "un-
pleasantness'' between the Bullion and
s.42O" folks were sinking a shaft on what
was claimed to be Bullion ground. J. M.
Walker, then superintendent Of the Bull
lion. told his men he would make each OF
them a handsome present in case they
would cut the "420' fellows off. The Bull
lion miners accordingly pushed a drift OF
nights, when the 1920" men We're not at
work, and at last tapped their shaft near
the bottom. They then set to work and
placed a floor of timbers across the shaft.
Next morning the "420" interlopers came
to work on their shaft, which was about
400 feet deep, and in the bottom of which
three or four feet of water usually accum-
ulated over night.
They did their hosting by means OF a
horse whim. Not having the remotest
idea of what had been going on at the bot
tom of thsir shaft the previous night, the
men of the "42U' let down their bucketfor
the purpose of bailing out the water pre-
paratory to sending down the miners.
The bucket came down and rested on
the timber floor. When it had been down
long enough to fill, as the fellows above
calculated, it slowly began to ascend. The
lightness of the load must have greatly as
tonished the old horse at the whim. The
Bullion boys laughed heartily as they saw
the empty bucket crawling up the shaft
and pictured to themselves the astonish-
ment of the parties above at seeing itcome
up dry.
Presently the old bucket came poking
down again in search Of water. This time
in order to make sure of reaching the bot
tom Of their shaft, the 1920" folks let down
about twenty feet of slack cable. Seeing
this, Johnny Cranney afterwards under
ground foreman of the Hale & Norcross
mine for a long simeD lodged out into the
shaft and unlocking the cable from the
bucket, hooked it around the heavy limb
ers. In a shot time the cable began to
crawl up the shaft and soon became taut.
If the old horse was before %astonished
at the lightness of the load, he must now
have been astonished at its great weight
Several Intellectual pulls were taken at the
cable. It was better than a circus for the
Bullion BOYS down in the mine, and they
laughed till the tears ran down their
cheeks as they imagined the old horse
above scratching gravel as he got down to
his work, with the utterly ~dumfounded
ago. fellows whipping and whooping al
him. 1t was all of no use, the timber was
firm and the hempen cable strong. The
men were obliged to unhitch the horse and
give up work, as they were unable to gel
down their shaft.
In a day or two the "42O' folks got :
hint from some one as to what was the
matter, or in some way dropped on the
situation, as the superintendent OF thai
claim came to Walker and told him If they
would let them have their cable they
would abandon the shaft and start in anoth.
er place. The cable, therefore, was IN
fastened and the $780, men hauled it up
However, fearing treachery, the Bullion
men, under the instructions of Captain
Sam Owens, their foreman, timbered up
bulkheaded-the drift leading into the dis
puted shaft.
Their suspicious of bad faith proved te
be well founded, for no sooner had tbs
ago. folks regained theircable then dowr
came two of their men with axes and be
gan chopping at the timhers in the bottom
of the shaft. They were ordered to desis
when one of them said: "Ws were sen
down to clear the shaft, and bejabber
we'll clear it!'
"If you strike another lick" said San
Owens, We'll blow you out at the top o
the shaft! We've got a keg Of powder un
der the timbers and are all ready to ligh
the fuse and send you straight to Heav
emf
"Fire away, and be ID to you" sun!
out one of the choppers, evidently not b
HAVING the story. about the key of powde